1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a deflector of the type used in the transfer of gobs of molten glass to a blank mold of a glass container manufacturing machine of the individual section ("I.S.") type. More particularly, this invention relates to a deflector of the aforesaid type that has a cooling passage formed integrally therein and extending therethrough.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A system for the delivery of gobs of molten glass to the various sections of an I.S. machine is generally described in U.S. Pat. 4,772,306 (Davey et al.), the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. The system uses, for each mold cavity of each I.S. machine section, a fixed, downwardly inclined, upwardly facing straight trough that receives gobs, in sequence, from an oscillating scoop, which oscillates between a plurality of such troughs to feed gobs into each of them. Gobs exit from an outlet of each trough and then pass into a fixed device, called a deflector, that faces downwardly and is curved downwardly toward its outlet to guide the gobs as they pass from the trough into an I.S. machine section blank mold.
It is desirable to cool at least some of the deflectors in an I.S. machine gob delivery system to reduce the coefficient of friction between the deflector(s) and the gobs of glass passing therethrough, to thereby speed up the passage of gobs through the cooled deflector(s) and thereby more accurately control the arrival times of the gobs at the I.S. machine section mold cavity to which they are being directed. This is especially important in I.S. machines with a large plurality of sections, such as eight or even ten sections, because the gob travel paths to the molds at the outermost of such sections are considerably longer than the travel paths to the interior sections of the I.S. machine. Heretofore, it has been proposed to cool I.S. machine gob deflectors by adding cooling tubes or other elements to the exterior thereof, but the addition of such cooling elements complicates the manufacture of the deflector and adds to the expense thereof, consequently, this arrangement has not gained widespread acceptance.